Ted Lasso: Some Soothing Fun

I binged all of Ted Lasso last weekend and it felt like a balm to my soul. After all the uproar around the election, watching this show was like a soothing cup of tea, a reminder that the world still contains delicious new sitcoms with funny and original stories that allow you to forget the world for a spell. So if you're in need of some solace, I suggest you crank up Apple TV+ and settle in. 

The show follows Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), an American college football coach who gets hired to fly across the pond and coach AFC Richmond, an English Premier League football (aka soccer) team, despite having absolutely no experience coaching that type of football. He brings his assistant and friend, Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) along with him for the ride, and together, the two men need to face the wrath of the team and its fans who are appalled that these Americans who know nothing about the beautiful game are going to lead their team into ruin. 

If you're wondering how this even happened, it's because the team has a new owner, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), who won the team in her divorce. Her ex-husband loved this team, so why not hire Ted to make them the laughing stock of the Premier League and spite her ex? Unfortunately, as she quickly discovers, you shouldn't underestimate Ted just because of his folksy charm and constant optimism. This is a man who understands people and knows how to motivate his team to perform as one cohesive unit, and as the show progresses, it becomes a story of how a bunch of sarcastic, world-weary Brits, fall in love with an odd American man who never stops believing in them.

This show is incredibly witty and dense with jokes, both spoken and visual. I loved that they created an entire airline called "Dubai Air" to be the sponsors of AFC Richmond, in an obvious homage to Emirates' longtime sponsorship of Arsenal. There's a joke where Ted is handing out little toy soldiers to his players, and one of them, who is a sweet guy from Nigeria, thanks him but says he would rather not take this token of imperialism. There's the episode where Rebecca is unable to get Robbie Williams to appear in a fundraiser, which ultimately ends with a Robbie Williams' song I hadn't heard since my childhood (sidebar: the show's soundtrack is a wondrous thing, full of tunes that had me bopping along nonstop with an Edith Piaf finale that was just *chef's kiss*). 

Can Ted Lasso be incredibly predictable? Sure. But is that part of its charm? You bet. I haven't even gone into the entire supporting cast and all the side stories and romances and friendships and other human dramas that fill up each episode, but suffice to say, this is a show that leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. The ten episodes of the first season follow a wonderful and satisfying arc, but damnit, I need more. Thankfully the show has already been renewed for two more seasons, and I can't wait to see the adventures that Lasso and the gang get up to. In real life, the US and the UK might have a tortured relationship, but on this show, we can dream.